Couple of easy newbie questions :)

Damalis · 11-16-2006, 01:40 PM

Hi guys, im here to steal some of your help on a couple of easy matters.

So im wanting to upgrade my memory to 1gig. My motherboard is a gigabyte GA-8SIML, which on its website has the following info on the motherboard spec(http://www.giga-byte.co.uk/Products/...ProductID=1335)

1. 2 x 184-Pin DIMM slot
2. Supports up to 2GB DDR266 memory

My question is just if i will be able to fit two of these ram sticks into the motherboard above- http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...ram-21/51s&P=1

Is that memory compatible? If not, could someone link me one that is?

Sorry if this is a stupid question- a lot of the spec is gibberish to me, and id like to get somone to confirm its alright.. wouldn't want to blow money on something that turns out to not work for me eh :(

Another thing is, my motherboard has an agp 4x slot (doesnt support 8x video cards) so im looking for a good graphics card which will play some of the newer games (even if on lowest settings) at a playable rate. I currently use an nvidia fx5200 card. Primarily i am looking to play counterstrike source and warhammer mark of chaos with it, if that helps.

Thanks for your help :D

ricer333 · 11-16-2006, 02:26 PM

First off, the memory.

Yes, that memory you have should work just fine. It is the correct speed rate that your MB supports. I would suggest tho, just spending the extra money and fully upgrading the memory. I do not know what you have in there now (2x128MB chips or not) but upgrading to the 1GB chips (2x1GB chips) now would make a lot more sense down the road.

As for the video card, know that most AGP cards are backwards compatible. This means that if the card says it's an 8x it will down grade to support your 4x slot. Most things within the computer system now (including memory) downgrade the bus (that's what the speeds represent) to the slowest (or lowest) number.

This is the case in memory as well. If your board can support 266MHz memory, but you buy 1 266MHz chip and 1 233MHz chip (not even sure if that's possible, but just using it for illustration) the board will downgrade the 266MHz chip to that of a 233MHz speed, essentially throwing away that money for the extra 33MHz.

Hope this helps! Good luck and remember what I said about the memory. "Penny wise, pound foolish"

Damalis · 11-16-2006, 02:51 PM

Thanks matey!

Yeah i was thinking about that, upgrading to 2gig, but apparently it just cant be doen with my system. My mobo supports up to 2gig but the manufacturers of my computer did something to that limit which brings it down slightly. In any case, the mobo is old, when i need to upgrade past 2gig ill just buy a new one and upgrade fully..

The video card.. i was thinking of getting an nvidia 6000a. It's an 8x card, though. Anyone have any idea if theres a way i can check if it will work with my 4x agp slot?

Again, mucho thanks for the reply, ill order that tomorrow :)

ricer333 · 11-18-2006, 07:02 AM

are you sure that you have the model correct for the NVidea Card? I haven't been able to find that model out there. Please post back a link to it and i'll let you know.

ricer333 · 11-18-2006, 07:05 AM

AGP Compatibility

Damalis · 11-18-2006, 07:43 AM

Hey ricer, thanks for the reply- the link you posted was helpful.

Here's a link to the card i intend to buy, http://www.pcupgrade.co.uk/productde...categoryid=111
GeForce 6200 with 256mb memory.

I'm using a geforce fx5200 at the mo, would i notice a considerable difference if i upgrade to the 6200? Or is there a better card you could reccomend to me?

Thanks a bunch :)

ricer333 · 11-18-2006, 10:57 AM

I am not a hardcore PC gamer at the moment... mainly because my PC (as detailed in my profile) is not fast enough from a 9yr old's PC now.

What I can link you to, however, is TigerDirect.com and NewEgg.com. These are the two main Internet sources that I use to buy all my PC parts.

I highly recommend TigerDirect.com. The review's on that site are usually very good and detailed.

Do a search for your two cards and see if you can't find out anything.

Also, know this. The limiting factor on PC games now a days, IS NOT the GPU (the video card). It is the CPU! The GPU's have gotten so fast, that the CPU's cannot keep up, and therefore become the bottleneck. You can do an experiment. Open up your favorite PC game and the MS Taskmanager (Ctrl + Alt + Delete --> taskmanager). See if your CPU is maxed out when you're playing a game. If it is, upgrading the card may give you a little bit of extra frame rate/ less lag, but it may not help out as much as a new M/Bo and CPU.

Just something to keep in mind when upgrading. I did my upgrade (as detailed below) and it cost me $500! For that money I could have gotten something a lot better, but this machine is really my first and I didn't want to send it to the graveyard quite yet.

**TheMatt** · 11-18-2006, 09:23 PM

I would personally go with 2 x 1 GB of DDR400, it will slow down to DDR266 speeds, and it will allow you to use the RAM if you ever upgrade to a socket 939 AMD board. Plus, it will be almost the same price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231039

As for AGP, most cards are AGP 4x/8x compatable. AGP 4x won't be that much slower than AGP 8x, so you can get some pretty good gaming with a good card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814170082
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102606

If you are in the US, Newegg is a great site, with great service, and in the UK, misco.co.uk is the UK version of Tigerdirect.

Damalis · 11-19-2006, 01:16 PM

Thanks mate, ill most likely get the radeon you linked me to. I checked my CPU and it runs at about 60% for counter strike source, i guess getting a new GPU would benefit right?

Thanks for the replies- i live in the uk so ill probably end up buying from the uk site you linked.

HawMan · 11-19-2006, 02:19 PM

I have the same Mobo, as far as i knew it could only Hold 1gb ( It was on the Packardbell Website ).

As for the graphics card ( You might have the same cpu as mine ) i would look for a 6600gt or something. I would look into a new CPU though. The GA8SIMLs fastest cpu is a 2.4ghz 400mhz, so that would be a increase from a celeron ( assuming your cpu is the same as mine:) )

Also, if you do install 2gb of RAM, can you PM me? I would like to see if it works as i might consider getting another 1gb.

thanks.

**TheMatt** · 11-19-2006, 02:25 PM

If you can afford this card, go for it, CS will run great on it:
http://misco.co.uk/productinformatio...phics card.htm
If not, this card will be a good upgrade too:
http://misco.co.uk/productinformatio...b AGP card.htm
This RAM will work good:
http://misco.co.uk/productinformatio...00 2x512MB.htm

Damalis · 11-19-2006, 02:58 PM

Hey hawman, looks like you have the exact same pc as me eh!

Yeah i use a celeron, im going to get round to upgrading that at a later date.

On the mobo site it apparently holds 2gb of memory but i know somebody who has the same pc as me and you and when he tried 2gb of corsair brand ram it wouldnt work. Packard bell crippled the mobo through the bios to only hold 1gb, apparently. Sales tactics or something, forcing peopel to get a new pc instead of upgrading i suppose. I wouldnt try to upgrade to 2gb though, i can guaruntee it wont work.

Im at an indecision between the nvidia 6200, http://www.pcupgrade.co.uk/productde...categoryid=111 , the radeon x850 pro, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102606 and the radeon x1600 pro, http://misco.co.uk/productinformatio...AGP%20card.htm

Which of these would be best for my system?

Sorry for all the questions :p

HawMan · 11-19-2006, 03:14 PM

cool, the same PCs ( Ive modded mine though, Neon style :P )

As for the RAM, yeah it sucks, im running 1GB ( 2x512 DDR400 ) and its running fine.

As of the cards ( im glad theres a post here, im upgrading my Vid card too ) i would have to say out of they three cards the best would be 6200, it would cause less bottlenecking, although im not sure if you would see a huge performance from the 6200 to the X850 due to our SLOW Cpus

**TheMatt** · 11-19-2006, 04:52 PM

If it is the X1600Pro, I would go for the X850Pro instead, but if it is an X1650Pro, I would get that over the X850Pro.

Just remember that your celeron will always be a bottleneck, so you really won't notice too much of a difference between the three if it is 2.4 GHz. To save money, I would look at a GeForce 7300GT, that is probably the best you can get without bottlenecking. If you really want to game, I would look into a new PCIe motherboard.
http://misco.co.uk/productinformatio...AGP DVI TV.htm

Damalis · 11-20-2006, 08:22 AM

Hmm i really dont want to update my mobo at the mo, if i do it will be with a cpu upgrade. Cant afford that right now, so ill take one of the video cards you mentioned and tell hawman how i get on with it at a later date.

Ram came today but i wasnt in to collect. damn ups not leaving it at post offices like normal delivery...

11-16-2006, 01:40 PM	#1 (permalink)
Damalis Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6 OS: XP / SuSE10.1Linux	Couple of easy newbie questions :) Hi guys, im here to steal some of your help on a couple of easy matters. So im wanting to upgrade my memory to 1gig. My motherboard is a gigabyte GA-8SIML, which on its website has the following info on the motherboard spec(http://www.giga-byte.co.uk/Products/...ProductID=1335) 1. 2 x 184-Pin DIMM slot 2. Supports up to 2GB DDR266 memory My question is just if i will be able to fit two of these ram sticks into the motherboard above- http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...ram-21/51s&P=1 Is that memory compatible? If not, could someone link me one that is? Sorry if this is a stupid question- a lot of the spec is gibberish to me, and id like to get somone to confirm its alright.. wouldn't want to blow money on something that turns out to not work for me eh :( Another thing is, my motherboard has an agp 4x slot (doesnt support 8x video cards) so im looking for a good graphics card which will play some of the newer games (even if on lowest settings) at a playable rate. I currently use an nvidia fx5200 card. Primarily i am looking to play counterstrike source and warhammer mark of chaos with it, if that helps. Thanks for your help :D

11-16-2006, 02:26 PM	#2 (permalink)
ricer333 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 302 OS: Vista (on Laptop) WinXP Pro SP3 (on Desktop)	Here you go First off, the memory. Yes, that memory you have should work just fine. It is the correct speed rate that your MB supports. I would suggest tho, just spending the extra money and fully upgrading the memory. I do not know what you have in there now (2x128MB chips or not) but upgrading to the 1GB chips (2x1GB chips) now would make a lot more sense down the road. As for the video card, know that most AGP cards are backwards compatible. This means that if the card says it's an 8x it will down grade to support your 4x slot. Most things within the computer system now (including memory) downgrade the bus (that's what the speeds represent) to the slowest (or lowest) number. This is the case in memory as well. If your board can support 266MHz memory, but you buy 1 266MHz chip and 1 233MHz chip (not even sure if that's possible, but just using it for illustration) the board will downgrade the 266MHz chip to that of a 233MHz speed, essentially throwing away that money for the extra 33MHz. Hope this helps! Good luck and remember what I said about the memory. "Penny wise, pound foolish" __________________ AMD X2 5000+ Black w/ XFX GeForce 8200 MoBo 4GB OCZ DDR2 RAM 3/4 of a TB of data storage between 2 HDD's (no RAID)

11-18-2006, 07:02 AM	#4 (permalink)
ricer333 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 302 OS: Vista (on Laptop) WinXP Pro SP3 (on Desktop)	video card are you sure that you have the model correct for the NVidea Card? I haven't been able to find that model out there. Please post back a link to it and i'll let you know. __________________ AMD X2 5000+ Black w/ XFX GeForce 8200 MoBo 4GB OCZ DDR2 RAM 3/4 of a TB of data storage between 2 HDD's (no RAID)

11-18-2006, 07:05 AM	#5 (permalink)
ricer333 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 302 OS: Vista (on Laptop) WinXP Pro SP3 (on Desktop)	Backwards Compatibility AGP Compatibility __________________ AMD X2 5000+ Black w/ XFX GeForce 8200 MoBo 4GB OCZ DDR2 RAM 3/4 of a TB of data storage between 2 HDD's (no RAID)

11-18-2006, 10:57 AM	#7 (permalink)
ricer333 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 302 OS: Vista (on Laptop) WinXP Pro SP3 (on Desktop)	I am not a hardcore PC gamer at the moment... mainly because my PC (as detailed in my profile) is not fast enough from a 9yr old's PC now. What I can link you to, however, is TigerDirect.com and NewEgg.com. These are the two main Internet sources that I use to buy all my PC parts. I highly recommend TigerDirect.com. The review's on that site are usually very good and detailed. Do a search for your two cards and see if you can't find out anything. Also, know this. The limiting factor on PC games now a days, IS NOT the GPU (the video card). It is the CPU! The GPU's have gotten so fast, that the CPU's cannot keep up, and therefore become the bottleneck. You can do an experiment. Open up your favorite PC game and the MS Taskmanager (Ctrl + Alt + Delete --> taskmanager). See if your CPU is maxed out when you're playing a game. If it is, upgrading the card may give you a little bit of extra frame rate/ less lag, but it may not help out as much as a new M/Bo and CPU. Just something to keep in mind when upgrading. I did my upgrade (as detailed below) and it cost me $500! For that money I could have gotten something a lot better, but this machine is really my first and I didn't want to send it to the graveyard quite yet. __________________ AMD X2 5000+ Black w/ XFX GeForce 8200 MoBo 4GB OCZ DDR2 RAM 3/4 of a TB of data storage between 2 HDD's (no RAID) Last edited by ricer333; 11-18-2006 at 11:01 AM.

11-16-2006, 02:51 PM	#3 (permalink)
Damalis Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6 OS: XP / SuSE10.1Linux	Thanks matey! Yeah i was thinking about that, upgrading to 2gig, but apparently it just cant be doen with my system. My mobo supports up to 2gig but the manufacturers of my computer did something to that limit which brings it down slightly. In any case, the mobo is old, when i need to upgrade past 2gig ill just buy a new one and upgrade fully.. The video card.. i was thinking of getting an nvidia 6000a. It's an 8x card, though. Anyone have any idea if theres a way i can check if it will work with my 4x agp slot? Again, mucho thanks for the reply, ill order that tomorrow :)

11-18-2006, 07:43 AM	#6 (permalink)
Damalis Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6 OS: XP / SuSE10.1Linux	Hey ricer, thanks for the reply- the link you posted was helpful. Here's a link to the card i intend to buy, http://www.pcupgrade.co.uk/productde...categoryid=111 GeForce 6200 with 256mb memory. I'm using a geforce fx5200 at the mo, would i notice a considerable difference if i upgrade to the 6200? Or is there a better card you could reccomend to me? Thanks a bunch :)

11-18-2006, 09:23 PM	#8 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	I would personally go with 2 x 1 GB of DDR400, it will slow down to DDR266 speeds, and it will allow you to use the RAM if you ever upgrade to a socket 939 AMD board. Plus, it will be almost the same price. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231039 As for AGP, most cards are AGP 4x/8x compatable. AGP 4x won't be that much slower than AGP 8x, so you can get some pretty good gaming with a good card. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814170082 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102606 If you are in the US, Newegg is a great site, with great service, and in the UK, misco.co.uk is the UK version of Tigerdirect. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides Last edited by TheMatt; 11-18-2006 at 09:31 PM.

11-19-2006, 01:16 PM	#9 (permalink)
Damalis Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6 OS: XP / SuSE10.1Linux	Thanks mate, ill most likely get the radeon you linked me to. I checked my CPU and it runs at about 60% for counter strike source, i guess getting a new GPU would benefit right? Thanks for the replies- i live in the uk so ill probably end up buying from the uk site you linked.

11-19-2006, 02:19 PM	#10 (permalink)
HawMan Liam Join Date: May 2006 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Posts: 2,938 OS: Win XP My System	I have the same Mobo, as far as i knew it could only Hold 1gb ( It was on the Packardbell Website ). As for the graphics card ( You might have the same cpu as mine ) i would look for a 6600gt or something. I would look into a new CPU though. The GA8SIMLs fastest cpu is a 2.4ghz 400mhz, so that would be a increase from a celeron ( assuming your cpu is the same as mine:) ) Also, if you do install 2gb of RAM, can you PM me? I would like to see if it works as i might consider getting another 1gb. thanks.

11-19-2006, 02:25 PM	#11 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	If you can afford this card, go for it, CS will run great on it: http://misco.co.uk/productinformatio...phics card.htm If not, this card will be a good upgrade too: http://misco.co.uk/productinformatio...b AGP card.htm This RAM will work good: http://misco.co.uk/productinformatio...00 2x512MB.htm __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides Last edited by TheMatt; 11-19-2006 at 02:33 PM.

11-19-2006, 02:58 PM	#12 (permalink)
Damalis Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6 OS: XP / SuSE10.1Linux	Hey hawman, looks like you have the exact same pc as me eh! Yeah i use a celeron, im going to get round to upgrading that at a later date. On the mobo site it apparently holds 2gb of memory but i know somebody who has the same pc as me and you and when he tried 2gb of corsair brand ram it wouldnt work. Packard bell crippled the mobo through the bios to only hold 1gb, apparently. Sales tactics or something, forcing peopel to get a new pc instead of upgrading i suppose. I wouldnt try to upgrade to 2gb though, i can guaruntee it wont work. Im at an indecision between the nvidia 6200, http://www.pcupgrade.co.uk/productde...categoryid=111 , the radeon x850 pro, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102606 and the radeon x1600 pro, http://misco.co.uk/productinformatio...AGP%20card.htm Which of these would be best for my system? Sorry for all the questions :p

11-19-2006, 03:14 PM	#13 (permalink)
HawMan Liam Join Date: May 2006 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Posts: 2,938 OS: Win XP My System	cool, the same PCs ( Ive modded mine though, Neon style :P ) As for the RAM, yeah it sucks, im running 1GB ( 2x512 DDR400 ) and its running fine. As of the cards ( im glad theres a post here, im upgrading my Vid card too ) i would have to say out of they three cards the best would be 6200, it would cause less bottlenecking, although im not sure if you would see a huge performance from the 6200 to the X850 due to our SLOW Cpus

11-19-2006, 04:52 PM	#14 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	If it is the X1600Pro, I would go for the X850Pro instead, but if it is an X1650Pro, I would get that over the X850Pro. Just remember that your celeron will always be a bottleneck, so you really won't notice too much of a difference between the three if it is 2.4 GHz. To save money, I would look at a GeForce 7300GT, that is probably the best you can get without bottlenecking. If you really want to game, I would look into a new PCIe motherboard. http://misco.co.uk/productinformatio...AGP DVI TV.htm __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

11-20-2006, 08:22 AM	#15 (permalink)
Damalis Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6 OS: XP / SuSE10.1Linux	Hmm i really dont want to update my mobo at the mo, if i do it will be with a cpu upgrade. Cant afford that right now, so ill take one of the video cards you mentioned and tell hawman how i get on with it at a later date. Ram came today but i wasnt in to collect. damn ups not leaving it at post offices like normal delivery...